Tag Archives: ADF: Paul Coleman

Spiked-Online: Ireland’s recent decision to legalise same-sex marriage has been heralded by some as a turning point in history. In one way, the Irish vote was historic. It was the first time a country ushered in a redefinition of marriage by the process of referendum, as opposed to a parliamentary vote or judicial interpretation.

One News Now: “Willingness to commit an abortion cannot be a litmus test for employment,” Paul Coleman, an ADF International attorney based in Geneva states. “Medical clinics and hospitals need to respect the desire and conviction of a midwife or nurse to protect life – a desire that led Ellinor Grimmark and others like her to pursue the profession in the first place.”

Patheos (CNA Daily News): Paul Coleman of the legal group Alliance Defending Freedom said the circumstances surrounding the ruling were “extraordinary.” “The lawsuit’s claim that a person should be able to do whatever he or she pleases does not override national laws rightfully designed to protect the weak and vulnerable,” Coleman said.

The Christian Post: The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights ruled on Tuesday against an earlier ruling allowing doctors to provide suicide drugs, by throwing out a case against the Swiss government. The woman at the center of the lawsuit was discovered to have committed suicide years ago.

Townhall: As ADF Legal Counsel, Paul Coleman said, “The human rights situation for Christians in Iran has been well-documented, and there is little doubt that a Christian convert would face real risk of harm if he is forced to return to his country. Christians should be able to practice their faith openly without fearing for their lives.”

The Catholic World Report: “While human rights provisions are meant to limit the reach of the state and empower citizens, hate speech laws do just the opposite – and that is why they are a tool of totalitarianism and not free democracies,” Alliance Defending Freedom’s legal advocate Paul Coleman stated in a July 4 speech.

Catholic News Agency: “A ‘newer theme that we see in international law is what we call the SOGI movement, or the Sexual Orientation Gender Identity movement,’ British attorney Paul Coleman told CNA on March 23. . . . ‘The terms “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” are terms that aren’t particularly well understood,’ explained the attorney, who serves as legal counsel in the Vienna office of the international organization Alliance Defending Freedom.”

Kerri Lenartowick at CNA: “‘Alliance Defending Freedom is hosting an International Media Symposium to educate the media about the legal issues that are threatening human dignity, religious liberty, the sanctity of life, the future of the family,’ Alan Sears, president of the organization, told CNA March 23.”

NC Register: The U.S.-based legal group Alliance Defending Freedom has issued a legal brief supporting Swiss laws that bar assisted suicide for those who do not suffer from any fatal disease. “The government has an obligation to protect life, not assist in promoting death,” Alliance Defending Freedom’s Vienna-based legal counsel Paul Coleman said in a statement.

One News Now: Alliance Defending Freedom legal counsel Paul Coleman submitted a brief in the case. Coleman, Paul (ADF)”The government has an obligation to protect life, not assist in promoting death,” says Coleman. “A person’s claim that she should be able to do whatever she pleases does not override national laws rightfully designed to protect the weak and vulnerable.”

LifeSiteNews: “The government has an obligation to protect life, not assist in promoting death,” said Legal Counsel Paul Coleman. “A person’s claim that she should be able to do whatever she pleases does not override national laws rightfully designed to protect the weak and vulnerable. We are encouraging the Grand Chamber to uphold this principle, which is completely consistent with the European Convention on Human Rights.”

Christian Post: “The government should not honor requests to punish citizens for engaging in perfectly legitimate and protected free speech,” said ADF Legal Counsel Paul Coleman. “It should not surprise anyone that the subject of sin and morality would occur in an optional lesson on official Catholic teaching. No reasonable person should conclude that this somehow ‘discriminates’ against anybody, especially since the questionnaire never even singled out any particular behavior.” ADF has sent a letter to Italy’s National Anti-Discrimination Office in defense of the teacher.

One News Now: Paul Coleman is one of ADF’s attorneys in Europe and he has written a letter to the office in defense of Mariotti. He points out that the materials were not focused on homosexuality, but only presented the question in light of the subject being taught. “The government should not honor requests to punish citizens for engaging in perfectly legitimate and protected free speech,” he says. “It should not surprise anyone that the subject of sin and morality would occur in an optional lesson on Catholic teaching. No reasonable person should therefore conclude that this somehow discriminates against anybody.”

WorldNetDaily: “The government has an obligation to protect life, not facilitate death,” said ADF Legal Counsel Paul Coleman. “Claims to personal autonomy do not override national laws designed to protect the weak and vulnerable. We trust the Grand Chamber will support this principle, which is entirely consistent with the European Convention on Human Rights.” ADF and ECLJ have intervened in the case because of its significance. “The clear jurisprudence of the court is that there is no right to assisted suicide or euthanasia under the convention, nor are there any positive obligations on the state in regard to these issues, save the positive duty on the states to protect life under Article 2,” ADF argued.

Paul Coleman at Speak Up Movement Church (7/5): Religious Liberty is in peril worldwide. This blog post, the first in a series of commentaries, illustrates the increasing marginalization of Christianity in Europe. The remaining commentaries will be published over the course of the next few weeks.

Catholic Culture (7/3): Paul Coleman has published an outstanding yet fairly brief review of legal discrimination against European Christians in the June/July issue of First Things. This is a somewhat unhappy announcement because, for a certain period of time, you have to be a subscriber to read it on their website (www.firstthings.com). But you might want to check back in a couple of months, as older articles are more widely available . . . The title of his highly-useful article is “European Faith Made Private”.

Paul Coleman at Bell Towers: For several decades the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has taken an evolutive approach to the meaning of the European Convention on Human Rights, and the notion that the Convention is “a living instrument” now appears to be uncontested. Nevertheless, the Court’s evolutive approach towards assisted suicide and euthanasia is remarkable.

Paul Coleman at the Christian Post: The United Kingdom’s multitude of “equality” provisions will protect nearly anyone born with a disability, although it is perfectly legal to prevent disabled people from being born, up to the point of birth (simply because they have a disability). The U.K.’s abortion law is therefore an example of the most blatant and basic form of discrimination imaginable.

“Society should protect and strengthen marriage, not undermine it. That’s the belief of the people of France. This redefinition of marriage has been pushed through at great speed without their support. Millions have taken to the streets in protest, but the government has not responded by listening to the people. Instead, it has sought to silence them with police brutality.”

Paul Coleman at Christian Post: Arguments offered in support of the British Government’s push to redefine marriage illustrate the illogical foundation on which the endeavor rests. In fact, the government’s own arguments show the true danger that marriage will face if those trying to redefine it are successful.

A coalition of religious freedom advocacy groups will hold a parallel event at the 22nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva Wednesday to call upon all nations to respect universally acknowledged international standards.

Paul Coleman at Bell Towers: When is a church not a church? The answer – when the government says so. At least this is the case in several European countries, where a multi-tiered system is strictly operated and only the entities that reach the top tier are officially recognized as churches.

GoErie.com: There is no doubt that religious liberty is under serious threat in Britain, particularly for Christians,” says Paul Coleman, a lawyer with the Alliance Defending Freedom, which was involved with cases before the European human-rights court. “In the language of ‘equality,’ ‘diversity’ and ‘tolerance,’ secularists have found a way to sideline and marginalize Christianity, successfully framing the moral beliefs of Christians as ‘intolerant’ or ‘discriminatory’ and unworthy of protection. Unless a true balance is found, where Christians can be accommodated in the public square and not shut out, we will see many more cases like the four before the ECHR in the headlines.”

Jean Kathryn Lopez at National Review and Troy Messenger: “There is no doubt that religious liberty is under serious threat in Britain, particularly for Christians,” says Paul Coleman, a lawyer with Alliance Defending Freedom, which was involved with cases before the European human-rights court. “In the language of ‘equality,’ ‘diversity’ and ‘tolerance,’ secularists have found a way to sideline and marginalize Christianity, successfully framing the moral beliefs of Christians as ‘intolerant’ or ‘discriminatory’ and unworthy of protection. Unless a true balance is found, where Christians can be accommodated in the public square and not shut out, we will see many more cases like the four before the ECHR in the headlines.”

Alliance Defending Freedom Legal Counsel Paul Coleman has authored an important new book, released this week, about the criminalization of so-called “hate speech” in Europe and the widespread threat it poses to free speech everywhere.

Paul Coleman at Townhall: In late October, a 31-year old female dentist named Savita Halappanavar died in Ireland after being refused an abortion. And although there was no causal link between the refused abortion and her death at the time, and there remains none now, pro-abortion proponents are seizing on her death as sufficient reason to legalize abortions in Ireland.

Paul Coleman at the Bell Towers: “A secular society is not an anti-religious one. Rather, it is one where fundamental beliefs that we disagree about – beliefs that provide strong motivation to some but mean little or nothing to those who do not hold them – are left aside in public debate about communal decisions.” So says the European Humanist Federation. Such a statement is no doubt intended to comfort the religiously minded that often hold the sneaking suspicion that the secular vision for society is, a contrario, anti-religion. But do the secularists really practice what they preach, and is secularism really neutral in matters of religion and belief, as it is claimed.

One News Now: Alliance Defending Freedom attorney Paul Coleman was there for the arguments involving the cases in which the courts in the U.K. “failed to respect religious freedom in the workplace.” “Two of them involve the right to wear a cross at work,” he tells OneNewsNow. “When other members of the workforce were given accommodations for their religious symbols — be it the Hijab or the Sikh turban — Christians were told they were not allowed to wear the cross.”

Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys Paul Coleman and Roger Kiska will be available for media interviews Tuesday immediately following oral arguments at the European Court of Human Rights in four pivotal cases that involve religious freedom in the workplace.

Paul Coleman serves as legal counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom at its office in Vienna, Austria, where he specializes in international litigation with a focus on European law. Coleman earned his Bachelor of Laws from Newcastle University and also holds an LL.M. from the University of Northumbria. He is a graduate of the 2009 class of the Alliance Defending Freedom Blackstone Legal Fellowship leadership training program. Prior to joining Alliance Defending Freedom, Coleman trained for two years at Camerons Solicitors LLP, London, and acted as a legal advisor to Christian Concern and the Christian Legal Centre. Coleman is a Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales. He is also a member of Lawyers’ Christian Fellowship in the United Kingdom and the Ecclesiastical Law Society. He is a regularly featured speaker on religious liberty issues throughout the United Kingdom and Europe.